Sunday, November 8, 2015

Well This week has been pretty good! Sadly this week on Tuesday I started to have the symptoms of chicken kunea come back so the nurse here and President and Sister Hanneman told me to stay down most of the week so well thats basically my week!

We had an island conference this week and so that was cool! One of the really cool things we are doing is the missionaries on the island of Upolu are going to be singing to the Prime Minister of Samoa on December 24th so that will be really awesome!

At that zone conference I learned a lot of cool things and one of them was about prayer and not using repetion! And President related it to emailing our families! If we just pray the same thing every morning and night to our heavenly father it is like emailing our families the same thing every night so that was something that really got me thinking about my prayers and how I can make it more meaningful!

President also announced that they are opening up most of the smaller Samoan islands also like Tokilau and Manua and Manono so there is always a possiblility of going to one of those islands and being the only missionaries on the whole island so thats way cool!

So... In my new area we are really in the outback of samoa and have water tanks that we run off and we ran out so we had to go shower at this members house down the street and let me tell ya! that was a different experience! haha so basically their shower was right on the road and it was a faucet that came out of the ground and there was a big bucket and a little bowl and you fill up the bucket and then you basically just use the little bowl the dump the water on you and you do this wearing nothing but a lavalava while all the little samoan kids watch and laugh! haha! it was a great experience!

My language is coming! While Elder Anderson was showering I was talking to this old man and I was actually conversating with him and understood everything he said so it was really awesome! So I guess you can say Im already fluent! haha just kidding!

Well thats kinda it this week! Just a lot of resting so I can go 100% in the lords work so yea! I cant wait to find teach and baptize again! haha I love and miss you guys!

Sunday, November 1, 2015

Well this week was crazy! I was in the MRC (Missionary Recovery Center) all week and last monday the doctor said I would need to stay down and rest all week so President decided to put Elder Kaiso in a new area so I lost him this week and all week I had no idea who my new comp would be and if I would be in a new area! Luckily there was 3 of us that were sick all week so we just kinda were eachothers companions and we just talked all day haha! On Saturday president Hannemann came in and we are all starting to feel better and he asked if we were ready to get transferred and we were like uhhhhhh.. We were just transferred! But He met with each of us and I thought I would be going back to my area just with a new comp but He told me I was going to Lotofaga fou which is way backside backwoods samoa and it is soooo awesome and beautiful back here! And Best of all! My new Comp is sooo awesome! His name is Elder Anderson from Oregon! He loves basketball and the NBA so we get along so well and there is never a dull moment!

My new area is HUGE! luckily we have bikes but it is big and lots of big hills haha! The really cool thing is there is a beach and ocean in our area so thats really cool! and there is also a resort haha!

One of the really cool things about being in the MRC all week was I got to know President and Sister Hannemann really well and they are awesome people! They truely do love the work and are so excited to be here and help us bring others unto Christ!

Well I was in the MRC all week so there wasnt really many adventures or anything like that but I am feeling lots better and I am ready to work hard again with Elder Anderson! It is so crazy to me that it is already November! I feel like it was just the blink of an eye ago it was June 17th! It seriously blows my mind anytime I think about it!

Well I love you guys and think about you soooo much and pray for each and every one of you! REMEMBER: When in doubt, Pray it out! I love you guys!

Sunday, October 18, 2015

Well I have been in the mission for 4 months! its so crazy to me because it definently hasnt felt that long haha! But the crazy news is on sunday was transfer calls and well thats the "hold your breath day" haha! We got a call at 9 from the AP's and I have been transferred to Tulaele and Elder Johansen is getting transferred to Siumu which is backside Upolu! So that means also that they are whitewashing our area in vaimoso so thats crazy! I love our area in vaimoso sooo much! I am going to miss the families so much and it will be so sad to leave all these people!

And well this week was.... RAINY! It rained all week! And when it rains... IT POURS! haha! and one of the funniest things here is that when it rains all the moms take their kids clothes of and tells them to go shower outside so when it rains there is just a bunch of naked kids running around and well its a different world out here! haha

On Tuesday, We got the oppurtunity to go to the temple and well it was one of the best temple trips of my life! And not just because the temple is air conditioned and it was hot outside! haha but because we really needed it! With all the changes and everything it was nice to be there and just be in the peacefulness! well and it was in samoan so you can imagine how I felt haha! It was really awesome though! The temple is truely the house of God and I have never felt so close to him then when I walk out the doors! I love the temple!

My studies this week have really been just in Preach my Gospel and learning the best ways to teach all the lessons!

Yesturday at church it was one of the happiest moments of my entire life! We went to our church and we had so many investigators and less actives come to church! it was so awesome! It was kinda like all of our hard work was paying off! We did so many visits and worked so hard this week especially because of transfers and the uncertainty of it and so we just worked harder this week then ever and well it was so awesome because most of the people we visited this week came to church! Words cant describe how awesome it is to see them there!

Overall, This week was awesome! Im so excited to start a new adventure of my mission in my new area! I am going to miss Vaimoso soo much and all the awesome families! Thank you guys for all the love and support and love for me!

Sunday, October 11, 2015

Well this week was one for the books! General conference was so flipping awesome! Its crazy because being on my mission has really put things in perspective for me! Such as Conference! I was sooooo excited to watch it and take notes and to just learn from modern day seers and revelators! I think my favorite talks were President Uchtdorf's and President Eyring's! They are just such awesome guys! The new apostles are going to be awesome and its crazy to see new apostles becuase I feel like as long as I can remember it has been the same apostles and everything haha! One of the biggest overall themes I got out of conference was FAITH and the holy ghost! And how we need to be trying all the time to recieve person revelation! Another one of my favorite talks was Devin G. Durrant! and him talking about Ponderizing and I am definently going to try that now! President Monson's talk was really awesome too in the sunday morning session! We all need to be examples and a light in a world of darkness!

This week I finally got to meet the new mission president! President Hannemann! He is a great guy will lots of energy and drive to do the work! We had interviews with him on tuesday this week and we really got to sit down and get to know him and he is a great guy. And with a new mission president comes lots of new rules! So this week was a lot of adjusting and hearing lots of new rules haha!

It rained a lot this week and well needless to say.... We had to bike through lots of rainstorms and showed up to our house soaked at the end of the day haha!

This week has been lots of finding new investigators and we have this girl named Sega! She is about 24 and we just finished teaching the first lesson to her and she loves it and says she knows its true and that it just sounds familiar in her mind and heart! it was really cool to see how she just opened up and loved the gospel!

This week we have actually had lots of fish in our dinners so it was really good! And of course we had the best food ever too..... OKA! Its seriously my favorite food ever!

And well sadly the food is getting to me! I have gained 21 pounds and after a dinner this week I got up and popped the button of my pair of pants! it was the funniest moment of my life! And needless to say... Elder Johansen and I went on a run this morning! lol!

The mission has been so busy this week and I have never been more tired or worn out in my life but the good news is it is on the lords errand and in his work! So I guess you could say I love that I am tired haha! I love being a missionary and putting that white shirt and tie on with the black tag every morning!

Thank you guys for all the love and support for me and I hope you all have a good week and have fun and be safe! love you guys!

Sunday, October 4, 2015

Well this week was super busy! It felt like we were going every which way! We had 2 baptisms this week for Fa'aleo and Vealeui! They are some of the coolest people ever! (Pictures to come)! They love the gospel and love love love church! haha! We have been teaching them for about 6 weeks and they have come so far it was so awesome to see the happiness the gospel brought them! It was sad because after the sacrament we confirmed them she came up and asked us if this ment we couldnt meet anymore and it was one of the best things ever and we told her of course we could still visit them! And she lit up and just like grabbed us and hugged us!

Well here in Samoa we are reaching the HOT and HUMID time of year! it is just crazy because I have never sweat so much in my life! And riding bikes up hills all day doesnt help! its funny because Elder Johansen and I have to keep our washclothes with us to wipe the sweat off when we get to visits haha!

And one of the really cool things is it is now mango season! and well mangos are probably one of the best foods ever created! sooo good! Fa'aleo and Vealeui gave us a huge bag of them after one of our visits and it was sooooo good! Its like a tropical peach! haha

One super funny thing is that Samoans always TRY to speak english to impress everyone in sacrament meeting when they are giving talks and it is sooo funny! So yesturday this guy gave a talk and he was just rambling on about something in samoan and then all of a sudden he starts almost yelling in english, "It was a highlight" and he was like pulpet pounding it was sooo hilarious! Elder Johansen and I couldnt stop laughing! funny stuff!

This week I have been studying lessons 4 and 5 in Preach my Gospel and just really trying to learn how to teach them! Its so cool how much you can learn and how much there is to be learned in the gospel! Never ending supply of learning!

The language is coming! Its crazy to look back and see how far I have come! I can understand a lot more and speak kind of what I want to say! The gift of tongues is real! I have seen it so many times on my mission so far!

So they show General conference the week after here because of the time difference but we are so excited to go watch it!

Well thats really it this week! I have some good pictures from this week that I will send here shortly! Thank you guys for all your support and love for me! I love you guys so much and miss you all! Love you!

Sunday, September 27, 2015

Well this week was soooo busy! And very very hot and humid! and riding bikes all over doesnt help! haha. Here it is starting to turn into the hot and humid season so yayyyyy! haha! We had 2 baptisms this week for Iosefo and Fili and man let me tell you they are so cool! So I got the oppurtunity to baptize and confirm Fili. It was so awesome to see how the gospel affected their lives and how much the ward loved them and took them in with open arms!

The language is coming! its really cool because I have found I can speak a lot more then I think I can! I just have to try! The gift of tongues is sooo real and I have found it to be so in lessons especially! The spirit definently translates for me! haha!

This week we were talking to our stake presdient and he had this quote on his wall that we thought was really cool! "God grant me the serenity to accept things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, And the wisdom to know the difference!" And I have been thinking about that so much this week and how we control most of what happens in our lives and the outcome and we just need to be humble and smart enough to tell the difference! haha!

Well food this week was really good! I have some pictures to send! First off, Pizza here is the greatest food ever created under the sun! I dont know what it is but it is the best food ever! This week too we had a lot of seafood so that was really cool! In one of our dinners the guy went fishing right before and freshly caught us all the stuff he fed us and it was awesome crab and fish and this snail type stuff and it was awesome!

This week we were sooo busy just running all over and we had companion exchanges this week with our zone leaders and that was really cool! One of our Zone leaders doesnt speak very good english and I was with him for the day and it was actually really cool because I learned so much samoan language words and phrases and stuff!

My studies this week have just been in Preach my Gospel on the lessons and how I can better teach and the most effect way to teach!

Thats kinda the jist of this week! This week has been just awesome, busy, hot, tiring but most of all rewarding! I have learned so much this week and it scares me soo much how fast it is going! Thank you all for the love and support for me and I love and miss you all!

Sunday, September 20, 2015

Well its crazy I have already been out for more then 3 months! Where has the time gone?! its crazy to even think about! This week our new mission president came in and we havent had the chance to meet him but his name President Hanneman and they are from Hawaii! He served in this mission back in the day! We are excited to meet him!

This week has been sooooo hectic! We have 4 baptisms coming up this saturday so it has been crazy busy doing lessons and everything! first is Iosefo and Fili and they are two parents and all their kids have been baptized and now they have the desire and know its true! its a really cool situation! They are really awesome and soo funny and loving! The other two is Vealeui and Faaleo and they are an older couple that has been taking lessons for a while and well the spirit is working on them and they finally made the decision they want to be baptized! They are so loving and always so nice!

I have seen soo many blessings and how much the lord knows each and everyone of us! This week was just cool because on tuesday we had this situation where it was like 6 and our dinner canceled and we had to go home and get something and we didnt really have any food to eat so we were a little stressed on what we were going to do and Elder Johansen and I just decided to keep doing visits and hope something would work and we would go "Feed our Sheep" instead of ourselves haha and we went to one of our visits and they were busy but she gave us a big thing of peanut butter and jelly and bread and thought that we would need it! it was kinda crazy how it was just a testimony builder to me and how when we put the lord first everything else works out! needless to say we had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches that night! lol

So in one of our wards has this guy and his name is Richard Brown and played linebacker in the NFL for a couple years then was a scout! He is the coolest guy and always gives us the best advice and everything! so this week we invited him to one of our lessons and that was really awesome so we had a lesson with a NFL player present! I will have to check that off the bucket list! lol! His wife always brings us food and stuff! They are soooo nice to us! And he always wants us to come over and teach his son some basketball! haha

One thing I have realized has been a blessing in my life is living in a few different places because I relate so sooo many more people because I have lived where they have or just by them! Its just really cool because it builds like a little relationship just because we both lived in Las Vegas or California or Utah! haha

One funny moment this week was in a visit with a less active family we were sharing a spiritual thought and all of a sudden "The Climb" By miley cyrus came on and my comp and i look at eachother and it was just the funniest moment! lol

This week in my studies and just studied about the lessons and really trying to get them in my head and how to teach them the best! So yea!

Well thats kinda it this week! Thank you guys for all the love and support for me and for everything you have done for me! I love and miss you guys!

Love, Elder Fawson

Zone after playing soccer

These are supreme ramen noodles!

Their zone leaders were over and they realized they all had the same color ties on!

Sunday, September 13, 2015

This week was crazy busy! full of lessons and restrengthening recent converts and less actives! It was really cool because some of the people we visited this week came to church yesturday and it is one of the best feelings and it just makes all the work worth it to see them there and happy!

Well one thing I have learned is how tiring missionary work is! We go from visit to visit to visit till 9 then we plan and well as you can imagine I lay down and it takes about 43 seconds for me to fall asleep! Its so crazy! then it feels like the blink of an eye and my alarm clock says 6:25! haha

So here in Samoa this week the Youth Common Wealth Games were held and it was crazy because we are in the town area so we get to deal with all that traffic and everything! haha! we could hear all the announcements and everything from the stadium in our house! haha! One of the coolest parts too was that on Saturday at the closing ceremony they had fireworks! And Its the first time in a while that there has been fireworks in Samoa! So It was cool to see them and EVERYONE was outside watching them! It was really cool!

This was a goooood food week! First off, I love oka! It is one of the best foods ever! oka is raw fish in coconut milk and it doesnt sound to good but it is sooooo good! and so speaking of fish... I had SHARK this week! and that was really cool! It tastes like a dense fish kinda like chicken! its good! and the beginning of this week at a dinner we had fish and litterally they go catch a fish or go to the market and get one and throw it on the fire cook it and give it to you! so I had some fish eye this week too! haha but its like just picking apart a fish! its good! I also LIVE OFF this ramen noodles called supreme saimini! and Man is it good! pretty much every lunch! And this week I also had pizza! TWICE! It is sooooo good! The pizza here is sooo bomb! But anyway some good food this week!

We have a couple of baptisms in the next weeks! We have lots of progressing investigators and it cool to really so how the gospel blesses lives of others! It makes all the long days and hot and sweaty white shirts worth it!

In my studies this week I really studied in Preach my Gospel and how i can become a better missionary! I studied a lot of Christlike Attributes like humility, diligence, hope, and patience! and I also studied in D and C and also my partriachal blessing! And I feel like I learned sooo much!!

Thats kinda the jist for this week! Thank you guys for all you do for me and for all the love and support for me

Sunday, September 6, 2015

Its crazy to me that I have already been in the mission for a full transfer cycle now! and My first planner of 17! haha! This week was really awesome! We had a baptism for this 11 year old boy named Tala! Hes such a cool kid and he is the first kid in his family baptized and the coolest thing is yesturday his parents came to church and wants to start lessons! It was seriously so cool to see how one little boys decision can impact his family forever!

One crazy thing I have noticed being here is that I just like "hunger" to study! back home you probably would never catch me studying or even reading! haha! But I feel like I just want to read and study the BOM and Preach My Gospel like all day! Its crazy!

So one awesome thing this week too was in our area there is this print shop where you can print pictures and stuff and Elder Johansen and I went in there to see how much it would be and we met this guy shane! HE SPOKE ENGLISH!!!! And we talked with him about like the prices and what they do and stuff and somehow someway we got talking about the Book of Mormon and we had almost a little lesson with him and hes interested and so we are meeting with him again in the next few days! It really opened my eyes about missionary work! It just takes that little spark of interest and thats what the spirit works off!

And yet again this week we had a pig in our shower! haha I guess they just love it in there! haha Probably one of the funnest things is Elder Johansen and I quote Jim gaffigan and Nacho Libre all the time and whenever we are down or just tired we start quoting and we just start dieing of laughter! Its so funny!

My language is actually getting better! The gift of tongues is so real! I have noticed that in lessons I can understand a lot of what the person is saying! Its so cool! I can kinda speak it and it is surely coming slowly everyday!

Being on a mission has opened my eyes on how powerful the gospel is and the happiness it brings to others! I know its true with out any doubt! I know the Book of Mormon is absolutley true! I Promise just like in 3 Nephi 18: 18-19 Ask and ye shall Recieve! We just have to ask!

I love you guys and miss you soo much! Thank you for all the love and support!

Sunday, August 30, 2015

This week was awesome! On Tuesday, Elder Robbins of the seventy presidency and Elder Halleck of the seventy came and spoke to us! It was cool because It was all of the island Upolu there and only Upolu so it made me really happy to be on Upolu right now haha! Elder Hallech talked about just making our time count and to give the mission everything we have! Elder Robbins was awesome and talked about when we teach investigators we need to be walking in the same path with them and basically being their guides to eternal life haha! He talked a lot about Faith and Trials too. How we only apreciate light when we have darkness and it really is so true! Thats why we have trials is so that we can realize what we have and humble ourselves and thats when the lord blesses us. Just like Ether 12:6!

This week was really cool too because I finished the Book of Mormon! I decided that thats the first thing I want to do is read through the BOM again at the beginning of my misison! I started it July 30th and for an hour everyday in personal study and in sacrament and stuff and I finished it on August 30th! I know it is true without a shadow of a doubt! When I read it just answers any questions I have or anything I am pondering. I love the Book of Mormon. I have a bunch of verses that I loved but I decided that the whole thing is my favorite so just go read the whole thing! haha!

My super favorites were

3 Nephi 12:47

Mormon 8:24 "With his name you can remove mountains"

and all of 3 Nephi and Moroni! haha

On Wednesday night for our dinner it was awesome! The guy was a fisherman and he gave us Barracuda! It is so freakin good! And the best part is they gave us CHOCOLATE MILK and gave us red velvet cake! It was the best haha! One other food related blessing we had this week was our Stake Presidents wife gave us some home made brownies and you cannot even imagine Elder Johansen and I's excitement! They tasted soooooo good! You dont appreciate those things till you dont have them for a while haha!

Elder Johansen and I never have a dull moment because we just quote Nacho Libre and Jim Gaffigan all day! haha

One of the many good things about missionary work is we get home a plan and do area book work for a little bit and around 9;45 we are getting read for bed and I literally lay down and before you know it I am sleeping! Its like I just close my eyes and open them and its 6:30 haha! Its way cool!

If you guys are ever having a bad day just know that the other day Elder Johansen went to go shower and THERE WAS A PIG IN OUR SHOWER! haha It was the funniest thing ever! It made us laugh for so long!

We just got a new investigator and his name is Bernard and he is 15! He is the coolest kid and wants to be baptized so we are doing his lessons and they are going awesome!

Well thank you for all the love and support! I love and miss you guys more then you can even know and you are all in my prayers! love you guys!

Sunday, August 23, 2015

This week has been so crazy! We got notified last monday that President and Sister Tolman were being released for medical purposes and it was the saddest news because they are who make the mission the best! They left on Friday and we have an Interim President until they call and train a new president! Its just so crazy it was so fast! We had Zone conference on Tuesday and President Tolman and Sister Tolman were there and he was talking to us about it and you could just feel his love for the mission and how much it ment to him. They said it was the hardest decision of their life to make. But I know the lord will bless them and the mission!

On Saturday was my first baptism and it was the coolest thing ever! The spirit was so strong and I didnt know the Samoan pray for it to well but when I got up there the words just flowed out of my mouth! It was one of the coolest experiences of my life!

So its kinda funny because last Pday we had a zone Pday and played basketball and the hoop was just a little bit lower and I could dunk really good and no one else could and some kids saw it and now they all call me the basketball elder and just want me to come play basketball with them and dunk because no one can dunk here! So I feel like a little superstar elder lol!

Another cool thing is that Tomorrow we have Elder Lynn Robbins of the seventy presidency coming to speak to us so that will be awesome!

My book of mormon reading was awesome this week! Its crazy how it doesnt matter where or what I read but I always find an answer to a question or something to make me a better person or missionary! Here are some good ones I read this week!

Alma 32:21

Alma 26:12

Alma 37: 36-37

Alma 37:25

Alma 38:5 Put your name in the place of Shiblon

Mathew 9:10-13

Its crazy to me how fast time flys! We are already on Week 5 of our 6 week transfer cycle! I am so excited for the work in Samoa! Thank you for everything you guys do for me and I love and miss you all!

Sunday, August 16, 2015

Its crazy that 2 months ago I was being dropped off at the MTC! It seems like it was yesterday! So I better make these next 22 months count! haha!

Well this week has been really crazy! We scheduled 4 baptisms! We have a baptism this saturday for this girl named Meto! She is 19 and loves the gospel! She even wants to serve a mission! And then in 3 saturdays there is Iosepho and Fili! They are these 2 parents that have all their kids baptized but they just havent had the faith or answer from heavenly father but they said they are recieved an answer and that they know this is true and want to be baptized! The lessons are going awesome with them! and lastly is this awesome guy named Sava'i! He is in his 20's and his family is baptized but just inactive and he is loving the missionary lessons and loves the ward! He is being baptized in a 3 weeks also!

This week we have also had lots of visits with inactive's and recent converts and those are also really cool! Thats where I think my samoan has really gotten better because im the spiritual thought giver haha!

I love my companion! We always quote movies all day haha! And we sing songs but fill the words with church words lol!

The food seems to get better and better each week! I had some pig these week and let me tell ya! Thats the best! And we had lots of ulu which is bread fruit!

Humidity.... at the beginning of the week it was soooo humid! We litterally were dripping sweat just sittin at our table studying and you can only imagine how it was when we started riding our bikes around Samoa! haha! But it was also super rainy this week!! and Like Wednesday it was POURING! And we had to ride our bikes basically to the top of our our area and we live at the bottom and we got there and they said they couldnt have it so we were soaked and it was fun! Haha but man the whole time I was thinking how awesome it is to be biking through the rain to get to our investigators!

We also had dinner with our stake president this week and he is a way cool guy! He is in the translation department for the church and manages the translation from english to samoan stuff so thats way cool! And the coolest thing is he used to be a rapper and was on MTV and stuff! haha!

I am actually getting used to the cold showers! They feel a little warmer when I get in haha!

So when I first got in the field I decided I was just going to read through the BOM and so far I am at Alma 28! I have read some of the New testament this week and here are some verses I thought you guys would like:

Mosiah 27:36

Alma 5:13 and 7:23

Mathew 5:16 and 10:20

John 1:10

Luke 1:37

Thank you for everything you guys do for me! I love and miss you guys and you are all in my prayers!

Sunday, August 9, 2015

Weeks seem to go by so fast its crazy!! So this week was pretty awesome becasue we got to have Mcdonalds this week because its in our area! So something thats weird here is that everyone watches English movies and music! Samoans love to play music sooo loud and its like popular songs back home so we never miss a new song lol!

Food is pretty good here! One of my new favorite foods is "Oka" it is raw fish in a bowl of coconut milk with some onions and it is pretty dang good! My favorite time of the day is 6 pm because thats when our dinners are haha!

Sitting cross-legged for hours at a time is well... so hard! I feel like my legs are going to fall off and when we stand up we literally feel like they are paralyzed haha!

The language comes a little bit at a time! Everyone says that it take atleast about 3 months before you can really say stuff and understand so I am excited to do that because it is the most frustrating thing when we sit in lessons all day and I dont even understand where the lesson is going or what the invesitigator is asking or understanding and what my companion is saying! Its probably been the hardest thing for me! We have a baptizm next saturday so that is going to be really cool!

I experienced my first rainstorm on Friday and Saturday and man it POURS! I didnt know that much rain could fall! It poured rain all night and our house has a metal roof so you can only imagine what that sounded like! haha!

Being on my mission and have 1 hour a day of reading the Book of Mormon has made me have such a great love for it! I actually look forward to that hour a day because I feel like it doesnt matter where I read or what I read, I always get an answer to my question! So here are some good verses I thought you guys would like to read that I read this week:

2 Nephi 32:3, 9

Enos 1:15

Jacob 6:12 (my favorite of all time!!)

Mosiah 1:6-7

D&C 6:36

D&C 9:14

D&C 10:5

D&C 90:24

Also one thing this week that has really hit my is that the people of Samoa dont need me... I need the people and I need Samoa! Being here has truely made me so grateful for everything I have! like A/C and warm showers and a washer and dryer and just everything! I think thats why I am here:)

Well thank you all for all the love and support and I love and miss you all more than you know!

Sunday, August 2, 2015

Well this week has been super crazy! The last weekend was so long with out 13 hour flight to New Zealand and a 8 hour layover then a 4 hour flight to Samoa! Getting off the plane was kinda weird because first off it was like walking into a bathroom where a hot shower was going for like 30 min and because when I got off I felt such a piece come over me that confirmed to me that this is the right place!

Elder Johansen from Tooele, UT is my comp! He is a cool kid! He has been in the field for 10 months and his Samoan is awesome!! He is basically fluent haha! Good thing because they speak totally different here then in the MTC! It really is the hardest thing for me becuase in everything that we do I dont understand what the investigator, ward member, or person on the street is saying or what my comp says to them! So you can imagine me in lessons and yesturday in church! haha! But I am learning and I bare my testimony and say some stuff in the lessons so its coming!

So my area is called Vaimoso and it is in Apia on the island of Upolu! It is one of the biggest areas in the mission and we cover 4 wards! It basically goes from the ocean to the top of the mountain so you can imagaine how big that is! haha! We have the SICKEST house in the mission! We technically live with a family but it is a house on their property so its not like we are with them all the time so we have are space so its awesome! And the best part is we have ICE COLD showers:)

Its kinda weird cuz dogs are just everywhere! They are just street dogs and it is the saddest thing to see. For the short time I have been here I have seriously humbled myself so much because these people have nothing.. They live in huts with barely running water and their kids sleep on the bare concrete.

We have lots of lessons with Investigators and Inactives so we are always busy so thats awesome!

Its crazy being here because we have 1 hour in the morning for personal study of the scriptures and they mean so much more to me and I look at them with a whole new perspective! And as I have been read through the Book of Mormon I have noticed a pattern of words:

FAITH+DILIGENCE+PATIENCE=BLESSINGS

Its awesome to get home and go right to sleep haha! I have never been so tired in my life! I lay right down and knock out! haha! I have never prayed so much in my life nor have I ever prayed so hard in my life! I have learned to depend so much on my Heavenly Father because we cant do this alone!

It takes about 2 or 3 weeks to get mail where I am at!

Thank all for everything you do for me and all the love and support! I love and miss you all!